Mine.

There is always a little sweet spot in our heart for some people. The special ones from the myriad collage that makes up our lives. Old friends, friends you met only once, people who were such an integral part of your lives that you forgot all about their value, the shared mischievousness, the family bonds. Also, relationships that were not meant to be or will never be. As the years go by, sometimes even after things go bad, don't work out or maybe don't even really begin, they leave behind little pieces of memories that make you smile. Bitter-sweet as the smile may be, this is my journey through the smiles and (in this case), the men who made them!

A long, long time ago there was this girl who had the devil as her personal adviser. She was always the little perfect child in the presence of elders, but when in the company of her peers, the devil was let loose. Great many children were beaten up in the battles for food, game-time supremacy, kites, toys and attention. And then, a prince walked into the warzone, ready to face her. They clashed and fought, but realized that the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. So together, they ran headlong into mischief, co-conspirators against the boring world of the parents. Together they became teenagers, and discovered the first bloom of romance. Alas, the evil world of studies and Board exams interfered. The first bloom remained exactly that, and life went on.

Her travels took this girl to a new city where she was thrown in the midst of these strange big city kids. Too much free time and a love for bike rides got her together with this another guy. So different from her prince, this one was a crazy, unrepentant wild-child. So much potential for so much fun, and the devil told the girl, go live. She did. Even today, it brings an evil, evil smile to her face!

Oh, and then there was the competitor. The guy who wanted to challenge the girl in everything. They got into fistfights at fifteen, and stories abounded in the small town they call home. The girl took the ultimate revenge. She went ahead and charmed his parents. Practice helps!

First day in college. Girl sees a guy with an odd vibe, just lurking around, being unsocial. Somehow, over innumerable cups of chai, classic milds, pegs of varying alcohols and other adventures, they went from being awkward friends to this another plane of friendship. The one where the fact that you didn't really speak for a year and a half does not really matter. You can catch up over 3 days and 3 bottles. Bliss. Thank you, God.

Still in college, the girl meets another guy. This one was highly amused by the girl's attitude - her tendency to be the laziest in a pack of lazy, willingness to fight and propensity for using very colorful language. The exact opposite of what he thought a perfect girlfriend/wife should be. Then he discovered that she was willing to get yummy sweets from her hometown, just for him. Instant magic recipe for an everlasting friendship. Bike rides. Floods. Rainy days. Food. Chai. Alcohol. More bike rides. Gossip. Pretend study sessions. Xerox frenzies. Screaming matches (the girl won). Concern. Affection. A lot of laughter.

A chance online meeting. An instant connection and a decision was made. The girl met this complete stranger, one late evening, in the middle of her exams. Passed those, couldn't pass up on him. Shared a common love for coffee, food, cinema, and exploring their city. Could not tolerate each other's music choices. The girl made him smile, and his smile made her feel like a princess. But if you think they were a boring sweet couple, think again. There was this sparky current between the two, and well, life was very interesting. Though time and tide found its way in between them, an email is all it takes to remember the time the girl scared the daylights out of him. All it took was a bumpy ride on the roads of Goa, with the girl driving the two-wheeler. 

The girl has more stories and more people to write about. She will too, soon.

I Love SF

Its been a month since I have been in San Francisco and I am luuuuving it! The energy and the diversity of the city remind me of Mumbai (my one true love), and so do the beautiful views of the SF bay. Moreover, the last few weekends reminded what it is like to live in a city again! Oh, and I found my own place to stay. So glad the search for that is over!

One of SF's claim to fame is the super-liberal environ in the city and there is no better celebration for that than the Pride Parade! Oh. My. God. - It was such an awesome experience! We walked on the streets and took a look at the very colorful lives and the history of the LGBTQ community in San Fran. There was real 'pride' here, with thousands of people along to support the rainbow movement. There were also random Christian preachers holding loud debates with the non-believers, magic brownie vendors, some very very hot gay couples, some not-so-hot naked guys and plenty of ladies displaying their charms. It was an over-whelming, sense-saturating, super-fun afternoon and I am so glad that I was a part of this quintessential SF experience!

And then there was the food adventure. Apparently, finding a nice place (close by) to sit and eat lunch on the Pride Sunday is next to impossible. So we ended up walking through a maze of streets trying to find places that Google Maps assured us would be there, only to find them shut or not open for lunch or sometimes, not existing at all! Eventually it all worked out and we ate and wine-d and beer-ed our way into a perfect Sunday. All the more reasons to love SF!

Free fallin'

I am falling and I am flying high....

I can't decide which! My brain switches from one to the other without warning!

For the past week or so, I was hit by the worst case of nostalgia/home-sickness/feeling sorry for myself in a long time; and then I had an amazing Friday. One hour and five minutes was all it took to flip my luck on its head! So now, Dee is going to spend her summer in San Francisco, and is super excited about it! But a part of me is sad, there were certain aspects of staying back in Claremont, which promised to be as much fun, though in quite a different way. There is this contradiction in me which I have not been able to figure out yet: I am so unattached to so many things/people, and so attached to only a few. I am not even sure what the selection criteria is; it just is!

The past couple of weeks have been an endless series of people moving in, people moving out, people graduating, and moving on. Two weekends = Two graduation ceremonies! Standing next to these fresh graduates (with stars in their eyes :P) makes me proud of what they have achieved. I am looking forward to when I will ask them to be with me for my graduation. There is change in the air again; it's exciting, fun and scary at all once. Then last weekend, we got together (B, C, K, R and me) to go to Solvang. It is a pretty little town with original settlers from Denmark. Yummy Danish food, great trinkets to shop for, a cycle surrey ride thru' the town and some wine tasting. Throw in a beautiful drive by the coast, a gorgeous lake and a waterfall; with great conversation, laughter and Skip-Bo --> supreme perfection.

My biggest hope amongst all these changes is that this tenuous thread of friendship should not die off. It's very easy to let time and distance do their evil magic; it takes a lot of sweat and effort to maintain relationships. It is something that is weighing on my mind. Not to say that I am an expert in this; actually, judging by the present state of events, I suck! But I want a chance to try, and (hopefully) to try again. Maybe I will get one, maybe I won't. This time, I want to make it work better!

So now, for my own sake: Fingers crossed. Also, I am putting the smile back on!